Chapter 4

Will POV:

I grabbed Ravens shoulder and spun her around, her sage green eyes boring in to my brown ones.

"You're the thief from yesterday!" I accused. She backed away from my grip, and, strangely, I let her go. I noticed a look of fear pass through her eyes, however brief. Suddenly, a huge shape bounded toward me, knocking me over.

"Shadow! Don't hurt him!" Raven called. Shadow, which I presumed to be a wolf, backed away and stood, growling, in front of Raven. Halt moved toward Raven, but she held up a hand for him to stop.

"Please," she begged. "Please stay back!" Raven backed away, her black cloak concealing her in the shadows of the night.

"That was . . . interesting." Halt commented.

"Interesting, Halt? The was our thief!" I exclaimed.

"So she was. But some things not right about the whole thing. . ." Halts voice trailed off.

"What do you mean?" I asked.

"Well," Halt began. "Picture a thief. Thieves have either lost everything, or never had anything. What do they have to fight for?"

"Well, not much, I suppose," I replied.

"Now picture Raven. She's obviously skilled. But she doesn't have the aura of thief. Why would she help Rangers find an enemy, unless . . ."

"Unless she has something, or someone, to fight for." I finished for Halt.

Raven's POV:

I listened to them talking and smiled to myself. They almost figured it out. Almost. I frowned. Where had I heard the name Halt before? Oh well. It wasn't important. I ghosted forward, not paying attention to my surroundings. Wham! I crashed into a man which I immediately recognized as a Red Solider. I struggled with a dagger, but it was stuck. The warrior brought his sword up and prepared to bring it down on me, but in doing so, sealed his doom. Another sword, held by Prince Seth, as I would find out later, flashed from my right, and, in a whirlwind of blows, cut down the Red Solider. Seth stepped in front of me and held out his hand. I ignored his hand and hauled myself to my feet.

"I had it sorted," I informed him. Seth laughed.

"Sure you did," he said, then his visage hardened. "Tell me, Raven, what brings a thief to converse with Rangers?" I grew cold. Shadow had left by now, so I could expect no help from him.

"You-you know my name?" I asked.

"Raven, I'm not deaf, you know. I heard you talking to Cyrus," Seth replied. "There's really only one thief in Araluen with black hair, green eyes and weapons like you. I put two and two together and got four. Now answer the question." He returned his sword to its sheath, but I noticed his hand strayed to the hilt of his dagger.

"Well, you see," I stumbled over my words. "The Red Soldiers have come from over seas and are planning an invasion!" He deserved to know. He was the Prince, after all.

"What now?" I dared to ask.

"We're going to Castle Araluen," Seth replied.

"I can't go there!" I protested.

"Well, we are. Now, where are the Rangers?" He asked. I pointed behind me. Seth lead the way back through the forest, and stopped where I last saw Will and Halt.

"They're not here," he stated.

"You don't say," I muttered, dropping to one knee to study the ground.

"They went this way," I said pointing away from the edge of the cliff. We followed the tracks in silence, until I realized I heard voices. I gestured for Seth to stop.

"Are we going to track Raven?" A voice said. I realized this was Will.

"No, I need my coffee." Halts voice said. Seth couldn't restrain himself; he burst into the clearing, causing Will to jump to his feet. I sighed and followed Seth. Halt raised an eyebrow.

"You captured Raven, Seth?" He asked.

"No!" I protested, at the same time Seth said, "Yes." I glared daggers at him.

"Come have some coffee," Will invited. Seth sat next to Will, but I simply leaned against a nearby tree. Halt looked pointedly at a spot near him, but I declined. My spirits rose as I heard a nicker. They had their horses nearby! I walked over to them. I stroked ones head, right between its eyes. After several minutes of petting them, I realized how tired I was. I sat with my back against a tree and drifted into a troubled sleep.

Authors note: As Aubrey Cortez brought to my attention, Prince Seth could no longer be Maddie's younger brother (again, I'm blaming my lack of observation). I'm now changing Seth's lineage, he is now Evanlyn's cousin. Now that that's cleared up (hopefully), any ideas would be welcome.

Aubrey Cortez: I'm a fairly good singer, but I play the piano, and I tried the violin, which didn't turn out as expected. Thanks for the review!

Willow Treaty: Do you mean that you Seth to fight against Raven, or fight with her against the Red Soldiers? Thanks for the review!

The next chapter should be out later today, or tomorrow; I'm having a writing streak. Please review!